Beginnings, Continued
“No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ did for us.” Philippians 3:13,14 (TLB)
We look to Paul to be an example for us, and we may believe that Paul “had it all together.” According to the Scripture above, Paul rejects that idea by saying that “I am not all I should be….” In just a few words, Paul tells us of one of the major things he had to do if he were to serve the Lord as he was asked to do: “Forgetting the past…,” and he had quite the past to forget. He sought, imprisoned, and had killed those who followed Jesus. Who of us has a past like that to forget? With the help of Jesus through His teaching that Paul received personally, he was able to do that. (See Galatians 1:16-18.) Having done so, he can look forward and move forward to the work assigned to him by God, spreading the gospel to the Gentiles—us. We need to be grateful that Paul was able to do that, for this made salvation available to us.
Paul says that he is “…bringing all my energies…” and straining to “…reach the end of the race…” to move forward in his life to complete the task given to him by Jesus. That’s pretty focused effort. Shouldn’t we emulate that effort? We are running this race because that is what God has called us to do. I may not run the race as well as Paul did, but I can bring all my energies to bear.
In Isaiah 43:18,19, God says through the prophet, Isaiah, the same message He gave to Paul. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (NIV) God’s message in both cases is “I’m done with the past, and you need to get on board with what is happening now.” In Isaiah, He gives an encouraging statement: “a way in the wilderness,” and “streams in the wasteland.” The future shows growth even in the difficult and arid ways of the past. The way in the wilderness gets us to the place where the flowers will be blooming and the fruit trees will be blossoming by the streams in the former wasteland.
In Proverbs 3:5,6, we are told, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” There’s nothing secret about it. If you want to prosper, trust God and submit to Him. Look for His plan, trust Him, and strain forward to accomplish what He has for us to do. Then we will be successful and prosperous and be living in harmony with our Lord. Isn’t that what is best for us, the most satisfying for us? Let’s do it!
Beginnings
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Gen 1:1 (NIV)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 (NIV)
God created the heavens and the earth, and then He created us after He had created a place for us to live as physical beings. He made it to be a perfect place for our physical bodies. John 1:1 tells us that Jesus, the Word, was there at the beginning. In Luke 2:10-11, an angel startled shepherds with the message: “…Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
Here we have three beginnings; 1. the creation of the universe, 2. Jesus’ presence at the creation, and 3. the beginning of God in the form of a human, Jesus. When we put these three together, we can see the purpose of God from the beginning—to have people that He could love personally and who could return His love personally. God began it all, and there is no end, just eternity. That’s right, once God began it, His plan was in force forever. He has done His part, but some of us will never love Him. Here’s the catch--those of us who don’t love Him will certainly not want to spend eternity with Him. God has allowed for that by creating a place for those who don’t love Him. It is called hell. Hell was created for satan and his followers, but it is also the eternal dwelling place for those who do not love God. We show our love for God by accepting His Son, the Word, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior.
There are two more beginnings, one by Jesus and one by us. Jesus began the salvation of the world on the cross of Calvary, and He ended what He began when He arose from the dead on the day we know as Easter. On that day, He brought victory over sin and the grave to you and to me. It is left for each of us to decide whether we will make a new beginning or not. That new beginning takes place on the day that we repent of our sins and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. This is the decisive new beginning for us. It decides our eternal home, heaven with God or hell without God. Those are the only possibilities.
So in the beginning of this new year, I am asking you to make sure that you have made a new beginning that lasts for eternity. If you have, I’ll see you there someday.
Immanuel--God with Us
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him, Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)
“’The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him, Immanuel.’ (which means ‘God with us.’)” Matthew 1:23 (NIV)
The message of Christmas is very clear. God was announcing that He was coming to live with us in a manner that he hadn’t done since Adam and Eve. Immanuel was to be born in Bethlehem, and he was going to live with us personally on a daily basis. I think that He was excited about it. GOD WITH US, person to person. He became a man that we could see, we could touch, and we could love one-to-one. This was the first step for eternity of GOD WITH US, His heartfelt desire fulfilled.
Immanuel
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him, Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)
“’The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him, Immanuel.’ (which means ‘God with us.’)” Matthew 1:23 (NIV)
Before the baby was born:
Luke 1:26-38 tells us how Mary was informed that she was going to have a baby, a very special baby. Matthew 1:10-22 tells us how Joseph found out about the coming birth of his stepson. Both Mary and Joseph were given the news by angels.
They must have been exceptional people, living in God’s will, but also living in obscurity in the little town of Nazareth. But prophecy said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. How were they going to get to Bethlehem so that Jesus could be born there? Why would they go there? After all, they had to travel 90 miles, and the normal mode of travel in those days was donkey and human foot. Luke 2:1-7 tells us how this improbable journey took place. The Roman governor made a decree that required Joseph to go to Bethlehem for a census and to be taxed. God’s Word said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, so Caesar Augustus just happened to plan for this disruption of Jewish society in time for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem. Let’s just say that God had His way.
All these improbabilities and impossibilities came together to provide us with Immanuel, God with us. God moved heaven and earth to have the Old Testament prophecies concerning the birth of the Messiah to be accurate. In short, God’s will was done.
In Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 Jesus is called “Immanuel, God with us.” God seems to be emphasizing the personal coming of God to earth as a man. This encouragement was necessary when Jesus was born, and it is necessary to us, today. That is the message of Christmas, the words spoken by God to His prophet Isaiah: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him, Immanuel.” GOD WITH US all the time and everywhere—even today.
Relationship--Marriage
“So embrace, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a spirit of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering. Bear with one another and forgive one another. If anyone has a quarrel against anyone, even as Christ forgave you, so you must do. And above all these things, embrace love, which is the bond of perfection.” Colossians 3:12-14 (MEV)
Paul’s instructions in Colossians 3:12-14 certainly should work well in a marriage. Perhaps these verses should be included in the marriage ceremony. I can’t pretend to tell anyone how to have a successful marriage, but Colossians 3:12-14 would be a great start, and I can tell you what has worked for Norma and me.
Within the first year of our marriage, we attended my grandparent’s 50th wedding anniversary party. The emcee asked if anyone there expected to be married for fitty years. Norma and I both said, “Yes, we do,” and everybody laughed. We answered the laughter with the words, “We mean it,” and over 61 years later we still mean it.
We didn’t enter our marriage with the idea of a 50-50 arrangement. We agreed that we were both committed 100% to each other and to our marriage relationship. It’s been great. Encompassed with our love has always been the word, “respect.” We may not often disagree, but we do always respect each other’s opinion. I have sometimes been cautioned by the Holy Spirit to hold my tongue and be patient while my wife disagrees with me. And when I haven’t been patient, Norma has been forgiving, and I am grateful for that.
Friendship is also at the heart of our relationship. Norma is my best friend, and I am her best friend. We do have other friends, and we do enjoy spending time with them—sometimes together and sometimes separately. They often enlarge our vision. Norma and I recognize that we each have individual skills and abilities, and when we combine them we serve our Lord best and we experience the satisfaction of having accomplished something together that neither of us could have done alone.
God has blessed our marriage with our great love for each other, for our mutual love for Him, and His love for us. Without Jesus Christ as our Savior, and without the Holy Spirit as our guide, we would not and could not be as close to each other as we are. Our relationship with our God has been the solid foundation of our marriage.
Verse fourteen of the above passage, “And above all these things, embrace love, which is the bond of perfection.” Love, ours and His, has been the bond of perfection in our marriage.
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